D 570 
.8 

.MB J4 
Copy 1 



Congress 

; Session 



SENATE 



Document 
No. 85 



Visit of Imperial Japanese Mission 
to Washington's Tomb 



ADDRESSES 

DELIVERED AT MOUNT VERNON ON AUGUST 26. 1917 

DURING A VISIT OF THE JAPANESE WAR MISSION 

TO THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON 

BY 

HON. JOSEPHUS DANIELS 

SECRETARY OF THE NAVY 

AND 

VISCOUNT ISHII 

AMBASSADOR EXTRAORDINARY AND 
PLENIPOTENTIARY 




PRESENTED BY MR. POMERENE 
September 11, 1917.— Ordered to be printed 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFRCE 

1917 



^' 



^ 



A 







<!> 



i^ 



i^ 



\9 



0. of D* 
DEC 10 1917 




I 



•J 

i 

} SPEECH OF SECRETARY DANIELS AT THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON ON 
THE OCCASION OF THE VISIT OF THE JAPANESE MISSION TO MOUNT 
VERNON, AUGUST 26, 1917. 

It is not inappropriate, but I think has an historical significance, 
that in this pilgrimage of our distinguished visitors from Japan to 
the American Mecca they have come upon a ship of the Navy and 
as guests of the Navy Department. The men of the Navy love to 
recall that when in the early fifties it was determined to send a mis- 
sion to Japan to open the way for that intercourse which has been 
mutually so agreeable and helpful, the diplomatic duty was intrusted 
to a distinguished naval officer, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, 
who had won fame ashore and afloat. To the courage of a naval 
officer he added the accomplishments of a diplomat, illustrating again 
how deserved was the praise of Lord Palmerston, who said : 

Whenever I want a thing well done in a distant part of the world, when I want a 
man with a good head, a good heart, lots of pluck, and plenty of common sense, I 
always send for a captain in the Navy. 

Commodore Perry was the first to win the confidence of the Japa- 
nese people and Japanese rulers. He lived before this day of hurried 
calls, remained in Japan nearly three j'-ears, and had time to learn 
the worth of the Japanese and to study their customs and traditions. 
He remained long enough, too, for the people of Japan to learn from 
him and his fellow officers, sailors, and marines the broad and fra- 
ternal spirit of the American people who< did not ask then, have not 
asked since, and will never ask for themselves any right or privilege 
that may not likewise be freely granted to the smallest nation. 

In 1855 the Perry treaty was ratified and Japan and the United 
States formed a friendship which, cemented by the treaty negotiated 
for us by Townsend Harris, has bound together with hooks of steel 
the peoples of these two great Nations. July 4 was established 
forever as a holy day of patriotism for the United States by the vic- 
tories of George Washington. Independence Day has also a place in 
Japan's calendar, for it was on Juh^ 4, 1859, that the treaty provid- 
ing for commerce between the United States and Japan became 
effective. Thus the American and Japanese diplomats strengthened 
and enlarged the treaty secured by Commodore Perry. 

America opens its hearts and homes to the distinguished members 
of the Japanese Mission, and with a ])eculiar sense of fitness in the 
present crisis we welcome you to the shrine of George Washington, 
the patron saint of America, who illustrated those virtues of valor 
and statesmanship which attract men of like mold of every clime 
and every nation. 

To-da}^, with stronger ties than ever, woven out of the threads of 
our mutual participation in the world-wide struggle to insure to all 
mankind the right to live their own lives and pursue their own 
national ideals, Japan and America pause at the tomb of Washing- 
ton, in the hope that there may fall upon us all a double portion of 
his spirit of faith in the triumph of the right and his readiness to 

88293—17 (3) 



% 



020 933 497 5 



make the supreme sacrifice for the principles for which America, 
Japan, and their aUies are now contending infthe arena of war. 
They have drawn the sword to end mihtary feudahsm.^,They will 
sheathe it only in a victory that will guarantee permanent peace. 
We will follow in the present war the admonition of Gen. Wash- 
ington, who, bequeathing to his nephew his swords, which now hang 
in his home at Mount Vernon, gave this counsel: ' ■ 

" These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheathe 
them for the purpose of shedding blood except it be for self-defense, 
or in defense of their country and its rights ; and in the latter case to 
keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them m their hands to 
the relinquishment thereof." 



SPEECH OF VISCOUNT ISHK, HEAD OF THE JAPANESE MISSION, AT 
WASHINGTON'S TOMB, MOUNT VERNON, AUGUST 26, 1917. 

In the name of my gracious sovereign, the Emperor of Japan, and 
representing all the liberty-loving people who own his sway, I stand 
to-day in this sacred presence, not to eulogize the name of Washing- 
ton, lor that were presumptuous, but to offer the simple tribute of a 
people's reverence and love. 

Washington was an American, but America, great as she is, power- 
ful as she is, certain as she is of her splendid destiny, can lay no 
exclusive claim to tliis immortal name. Washington is now a 
citizen of the world; to-day he belongs to all mankind. And so men 
come here from the ends of the earth to honor his memory and to 
reiterate their faith in the principles to which his great life was 
devoted. 

Japan claims entrance to this holy circle. She yields to none in 
reverence and respect; nor is there any gulf between the ancient 
East and the new-born West too deep and wide for the hearts and 
the understandings of her people to cross. 

It is fitting then that men who love liberty and justice better than 
they love life, that men who know what honor is, should seek this 
shrine and here, in the presence of these sacred ashes, re-dedicate 
themselves to the service of humanity. 

It is a fitting place, at this time, when all the world is filled with 
turmoil and suffering, for comrades in a holy cause to gather and here 
renew their fealty to a righteous purpose, firm in the determination 
that the struggle must go on until the world is free from menace and 
aggression. 

Japan is proud to place herself beside her noble allies in this high 
resolve and here, in the presence of these deatlijess ashes, she re- 
affirms her devotion to the cause and the principle for which they 
wage battle, fuUy determined to do her whole part in securing for 
the world the blessings of liberty, justice, and lasting peace. 

As the representative of my people, then, I place this wreath upon 
the tomb oi Washington with reverent hands; and in so doing, it is 
my proud privdoge to again pledge my country to those principles 
of right and justice which have given immortality to the name of 
Washington. 

o 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



020 933 497 5 



